Shadow Hearts: A Novelization
by Miss Mary Sue
Summary: An old, scrapped writing project where I attempted to novelize Shadow Hearts. Consists of a prologue and 4 chapters.
1. Prologue

**Author's Note:** In middle school, I started my own personal writing project where I novelized the video game, Shadow Hearts. It's been scrapped for a long time since I've moved on to more original ideas (both fanfiction and actual novels), but last night I read this story over and figured I would post it up online. Since it was written a long time ago, I'm no longer self-conscious about it and don't care about the quality anymore. I haven't made any edits since the original draft. Beware!

Please note that this is not intended for an audience, so most of the dialogue and events are the exact same, with a few deviations that would suit more properly for a book (such as this prologue). I wrote this for myself because I wanted to write and improve, but at that time I wasn't ready to start an original story of my own. I won't continue this story beyond Chapter 4 since that is where I stopped last time. I'm posting this on fanfic dot net so it would be an easy reference whenever I want to look at my previous writing work. If you happen to enjoy reading it, then that's great too.

* * *

_Disclaimer: I do not own Shadow Hearts.  
_

**SHADOW HEARTS: A NOVELIZATION**

**Prologue**

WHEN I WAS little, on the rainy nights my mom and I waited for my dad to come back home, she took a liking to telling me stories (though maybe she didn't really take a liking, but just wanted to keep me from squirming and being so restless). The rain would patter softly on the thin glass of our window, so there was nothing else to hear but the motherly and patient voice of the woman wrapping me up in her arms. Usually this took place after dinner, when I would be able to eat some type of sweet treat if I had been a good boy.

(That is a lie.)

I know because a couple weeks before I had rolled myself in the mud when I was trespassing through a neighbor farmer's backyard. He said I was no better than any of his pigs, and I thought, _to hell with him then, let's see how he'll like it if I joined his stupid animals?_ My mom's face was redder than the ripe tomatoes I had stolen from his patch (of course, neither she nor the jackass of a farmer ever knew about this—ha!), but she still handed me a candy treat later that night as she told the story of a boy who was so naughty, he turned into a pig that then became the bacon of his own mother's breakfast.

_Wonder how she was able to make up _that _story…_

(The real reason why she gave me a candy was because she knew this time, like all other times, there was a chance my dad might never show up at the doorstep again.)

But yeah, all of the stories had a link to mine in some way, and the main character would always be based on me—is this why people keep on calling me a self-centered asshole now?—but hey, some of them were actually pretty damn funny. (Right, like I'd really be chopped up into bacon… well, maybe if Mom hadn't caught me and dragged me out of the gates when the farmer took out his shotgun.)

There was one story that was different from the rest, though.

_Ugh, yeah, I remember, that one annoying story…_

It was different because it was talking about a grown man instead. At my age at that time, I hated all grown-ups besides my parents.

_Sorta ironic because now I'm a grown-up who hates the stupid brats. I didn't realize this until I met Halley, but… well, I'll talk about that chump later._

Another thing was his attitude at the end of the story. That's the one thing that bothered me. Not a _pissed off _kind of bother, but a _I'm so confused that I try and try to figure this damn thing out but I still can't so now I'm just freaking annoyed _kind of bother… (In short, a pissed off kind of bother.)

Now I'm not the greatest storyteller—you better keep your trap shut before you go on and point out that I'm telling you _this_ story right now—and I'm not the greatest memorizer either. But to put it shortly, it was about a warlock who… didn't really know what the hell he was doing.

(Ha, moron!)

He thought he was living a pointless life. He was an aimless wanderer who knew no place to go and had no place to go. He didn't have a reason to live.

(Oh. That's a bummer.)

And then… something…

_What?_

…Something happened.

_It's…_

I can't remember that well now. But he got into a ton of crazy adventures, alongside with a ton of other wacky people too. Things got tougher, but they also got better. He gained courage along the way, apparently, and won in the end. Defeated the bad guy, and justice prevailed. All that good stuff.

But he lost something.

_What?  
_

Something important.

_It's…_

And the story drew closer to the_ real_ ending, with him anguished, bitter, depressed, tears streaming down his face—but before my mom was completely finished with the tale, she said he had spoken these famous words:

_"... Even if another age of storm buffets the world, I intend to go on living—and fighting—for you who have saved me from the darkness, the one I love!"_

My mom finished the story with a sigh, keeping her half-lidded eyes from closing completely shut. (Dad was later than usual.) I stared blankly at her until the silence registered as an unspoken 'the end'._  
_

_The end…_

I blinked. The candy traveled down my throat, a ghost of mint left in my palate.

_… The hell?_

"Is that it?"

I broke the short silence, my voice accidentally too loud. (I have no such inside voice, or so people say.) My mom nodded, a bit detached by her sleepiness.

"... I don't get it." I don't get it. _I don't get it._

Because now his state was the same as it was from the beginning of the story! If he was so miserable, why was he yapping all that mumbo jumbo about intending to live on? Why didn't he end his life like he could have from the start?

(Because he's changed.)

How?

(Because…)

I expected my mom to say something like 'You're too young to get it' or 'If you had listened carefully you'd figure it out'—yeah, the typical response from adults—but instead, she murmured softly:

"Maybe you'll understand someday."

_Someday…?_

A creak of the door, and then the thunder of rain was louder. Wind gusted through the shack as our heads turned to the familiar figure at the doorstep. "DAD!" I shouted, and jumped in his arms, burying my face into his damp, wet coat. He apologized for being so late—got held back, some interruptions during the trip, none of those really mattered now that he was home—and my mom smiled that warm and soft smile she always had whenever he came back. And he'd stay.

(For at least another few months.)

By the time I fell asleep listening to my parents' conversation ("How was your trip?..." "... winter's getting colder..." "... don't know how long this country will go..." "... so you say you'll have to go again soon, right..." "... but enough about that, how is Yuri...?"), I didn't give much thought about someday. Maybe a little bit, when I'm waiting for Mom to finish dinner, or helping Dad plant the seeds on his farm.

Someday, I thought, Mom might have another child, and I'd finally be able to hang around and play with another kid who wouldn't think I was some snot-nosed bumpkin.

Someday, I might be able to harvest an even bigger farm just like Dad. I'd split the harvest with everyone in town because he would order me to do so instead of hogging it to myself. _Hmph._

Someday, Mom would stop staring out the window with that tinge of sadness on her face, and she would stop wondering when Dad would come home.

Because someday, Dad would retire from work to stay home with Mom, and she'd be happy again.

Someday, we'd all be together, with no restraints of overseas trips for work, and we'd be a happy family.

_Someday, huh…?_

(… None of this happened.)

Those days never came.

(Instead, what happened was...)

This story is about the someday that really happened.

_Their story. Her story. My story._

**To be continued.**

_

* * *

_

Next chapter will be posted in a week.


	2. Chapter 1

_Disclaimer: I do not own Shadow Hearts._

_

* * *

_

**SHADOW HEARTS: A NOVELIZATION**

**Chapter One**

_(Yuri's POV)_

(SOUTH MANCHU, CHINA – 1913)

_FINE! I WILL! I'll get on that train! And which woman do you want me to protect, huh?_

(Damn voice.)

Covering myself with a thin blanket, I gave a quick huff at the new situation at hand here.

_Now where the heck's that woman the voice was talking about?_

(Damn vague voice.)

I examined my surroundings – rows of velvet red seats, open to occupancy. Polished wood floor. Windows displaying sceneries and trees that zoomed by in a blur.

_Luxury cars… are pretty boring._

_And this… is pretty boring._

But then again, I'm not used to fancy-schmancy settings. And a fancy steam train, to boot (I'm used to walking around, unless I need to get to some place quicker). Even so, I would've at least expected there to be some people. The quiet coughing of an old lady faded away into the other train car, and a single grunt of a tired officer was a few feet ahead.

Speaking of officers, for a special luxury car that belonged to the Japanese army, their defense was pretty weak. Either that or my sneaking was getting pretty good.

(I'd like to call the second one, but the annoying voice hasn't been giving me orders in a long time, and the apathy of the officers is dang obvious – every one of them in my car is sleeping.)

_Hmph. It's past midnight (er, I think – I'm kinda lousy at tracking time) and they're already dozing off._

I sighed. For a moment I considered getting some shut-eye too (haven't slept in… I can't even remember. See, what did I told you about tracking time?), but I remembered if I did, that voice would give me no end to nagging, and I'd have another migraine.

So I tried to keep myself busy by staring out the window. (Nothing better to do, anyway.) The moon rode along with me on the glass, running across the black sky to keep up with the train's chuffing. The engine was probably loud as hell if a guy were standing outside in the countryside, but inside it was quiet as a mouse.

_Click, click, click…_

Wait – mice don't click their heels. My head snapped up at the figure walking past by me, but I only saw his back as he stopped in front of the opening door – he wore a top hat that covered most of his aging-white hair, and a formal suit with cuffs rolled up above his white gloves – and then a glimpse of his side, when he took a few steps back, extended a courteous arm, and let the old lady from the door pass. He revealed himself to be some kind of English… whaddya call them… 'gentleman'? _Pshhh._

(But still...)

I narrowed my eyes, wrapped the blanket like a hood over my head, and trailed his steps to the next car.

(… He looks suspicious.)

By the time I entered the second train car, the man was gone. The room looked exactly like the other one from before, except the guards over here were more alert. Two stood in front of the door up ahead. They were the only ones talking.

"It's already past 2300, and it's still a long way 'til Fengtian." The gruff voice belonged to one of the officers, but unlike the rest of the red-clothed army, he wore a beige suit with a star. He rubbed his bald head wearily. (Must be tired from the long train ride, I'm guessing.)

The regular officer stood next to him. He flit his eyes towards the door and lowered his head, his questions taking to a low whisper, "Major Tsugi, what is this all about? Why the special train in the middle of the night to escort this girl to Japan? She seems pretty ordinary to me…"

_A girl, huh? Bingo._ I took a seat in one of the chairs, my back straightened. Chances are if these officers saw a strange-looking street rat trying to get past their door, even if I covered myself with the blanket, they probably wouldn't even budge to let me through. For now, I decided to stay put. _At least I know she's somewhere behind that door._

(But what about that other guy?)

"Hell if I know. There's no telling what the big-shots in Tokyo are up to." The major's uninterested snort turned into a chuckle. "Heh, next time I see you-know-who, I'll ask her, okay?"

_Next time he sees who?_

Things were getting pretty suspicious, alright. I pressed my ear closer against the cotton of the lavender blanket, but before the officers could speak any further, a loud yell erupted from the cars up ahead.

Suddenly, the silent air was filled with running footsteps of officers and synchronized bangs of shotguns. Quickly they lessened, and were replaced by soft 'thuds' on the floor.

"What's going on?!" the major voiced my exact thoughts, and all of the officers from the car and those behind evacuated into the rooms up ahead, where the noises were coming from. He shadowed their steps with his hand dug into his pocket's bulge of a gun. I followed too, leaving the useless blanket behind – my main concern was the girl.

(Not the girl herself, but her safety. And not 'cause I care, I mean, I've never even met the chick – but if I find out she's been shot or something in the middle of all these gun shootings the voice will batter my brains off for sure!)

The door was stuck after the major shut it. I cursed, rattling the knob as I missed part of the talking that took place behind the door.

_"… It's you!"_ a girl spoke, whimpering. Her voice was high, shaky – afraid.

But the man's, the man's was different.

_"Yes, I'm Roger Bacon…"_ I could feel the sinister in his words, and yet his tone was so disgustingly calm. _"I'm honored that you remember me so well. You can't escape. Come along quietly…"_

(Damn it, you stupid knob…!!!)

My impatience pulled my foot up and knocked the door down. The new room revealed the noisy yappers: a young Caucasian girl and the English man from before. _Roger Bacon, huh?_

He turned towards me as I stepped in. "Ah… a new actor in our play." He seemed amused, but I didn't find anything funny.

But the girl had noticed Bacon was distracted. She slowly backed away, her eyes carefully watching the back of his head as her feet shuffled backwards, and then tried to make a mad dash of escape. But she was too late. He grabbed her arm and held his hand in front of her face to emanate some kind of blue light in her eyes.

Whatever the glow was, it made her slump forward, unconscious into his arms. Bacon tossed the girl over his shoulders and turned to leave – he ignored me, like I was nothing but thin air, like I wouldn't be able to do anything anyway.

(But he was wrong.)

I charged forward, sprinting past the rows of velvet chairs, past the major's body that had blocked the door earlier, past all the dead bodies of the officers lying on the floor, and was going to hurtle right into the guy and beat him up all over.

… That's what I would've done, if he hadn't twisted his face to me midway running and shined a bright beam through his eyes. The blinding flash knocked my whole body over and a rapid pushing force crashed me backwards through one, two… three train cars.

I came to a complete stop. The dust finally settled and my brain stopped rattling.

I sat up amongst the pile of woods of the broken benches.

_Heh._

Something tugged the corner of my lips.

_Maybe luxury cars aren't so boring after all._

_

* * *

_

I NEVER KNEW how bloody the train really was until I started walking again. The decapitated heads of the dead officers, the rifles that proved useless lying in dark puddles of red – it was like a scene from a freak accident.

_It reminds me of…_

A chill prickled my skin. My stomach churned.

_… It reminds me of that night._

I shook my head. This was not the time to get all reminiscent over what I did in the past. All I had to focus on now was protecting that girl.

_The girl who was captured by Roger Bacon._

Echoed footsteps over metal ran above me. I didn't realize the cold drift in the spot I was standing until I looked up at the hole in the train ceiling. Someone had burst through and was probably making their escape right now.

(But not for long.)

Sure enough, when I jumped through the hole and kept my balance over the moving train, Bacon was only a few feet away. His tailcoat flapped in the wind, as did my trench coat, and his tall hat threatened to fly itself off into the plains' horizons.

The girl's body hung limp over his shoulders.

Bacon stopped running, and faced me.

"You're a persistent little rat, aren't you…"

_That's right. They don't call me street rat for nothing._

"You ain't getting away, pops!" I shouted amongst the whistle of the wind.

He chuckled, once again taking some sort of annoying amusement from me. _Damn, I hate overly confident bad guys._ This fueled me more into saving that girl (and kicking his ass along the way).

"You think you can take on me?" He placed the girl down, and I ignored the peculiarity that he had set her on the ground so carefully and gingerly, like a fragile thing made out of glass, to not let her fall off.

I charged forward just like before, prepared to dodge any second bright flash, but oddly he stood in his place. Bacon's hands were folded behind his back while mine were balled into fists, desperately trying to punch him, any part of him. But he dodged, quickly and swiftly that I only met air. A few seconds and I knew there was something about him that wasn't right.

The fighting continued on like that for the next few minutes. I was frustrated as hell.

It got worse when he started hitting back.

His punches were weak, but his stamina was not. No matter how much he punched, casted spells or dodged my attacks, he never broke a sweat and was not even nearly as tired as I was.

The man was not like any other person or monster I fought. He was different. I could tell.

We moved around the top of the train constantly, shoes clattering the metal and bodies nearly losing ground. I was desperate enough to even consider using my fusion power.

_But—but what if I become a monster—_

No. The reason I didn't fuse into a monster wasn't because I was scared, I convinced myself. (Yeah, that's right, that's why…) It was because the girl was in the way, and Bacon's hands were no longer clasped together.

Instead, they were raised above his head as he began chanting. It was then I realized what he had been planning all this time.

Faint lines that had traced our steps on the metal turned into glowing red marks. They formed a strange symbol – some kind of insignia, or alchemy drawing, or all that other complex magician crap I hate to rattle my brain figuring out. All I knew was that the soles of my shoes were burning, like I was standing above lava.

Clouds of smoke from the hot ground darkened my vision from the next attacks. Something, or many somethings, attacked and pierced through my body like sharp little daggers. They all forced a strong shove against my chest, and if I hadn't dropped down and locked my hands and knees to the train, I would've been knocked off and rolled away into the rail tracks for sure.

I panted heavily. I had exerted myself way too much from punching and fighting to handle a big trap like this.

"Damn it…" I cursed between deep breaths, the black fog beginning to trail itself off into the wind. "I can't believe… I'm…" I couldn't finish the last sentence.

Bacon's lips curled. "You're stronger than I expected… but even if you really had transformed to a _foul monster_ earlier, you'll still never beat me."

_Monster._

_How did he know?_

He raised a glove, casting a ball of purple light that sucked up all the wind into its own energy.

I knew it was going to be over for me. I knew it already as I was sprawled on the floor, breathing deeply but never being able to really catch my breath. He'd release the light, I'd be blown off the car, and I'd be stuck with a face plant full of dirt and pebbles while the train would ride off into the horizon. That'd be the end.

(Pant, pant…)

_But still, I hope…_

(Pant, pant…)

_I hope that girl…_

—Wait…

I took a look closer at the girl lying a few feet between us.

That girl. She's—

Bacon noticed too. That's why he stopped the glow in his hand and stared at the girl's pendant that began to sparkle strangely. It started off as a flicker, but rapidly grew brighter, bigger, stronger – and all of a sudden, Bacon, who had been so self-assured and composed in our battle, was terrified.

"Wh-what on Earth?!" he shouted, taking a few steps back from the girl. She floated off the ground as the energy became thicker. The streaming radiance of light could probably be seen from miles away. For a moment I thought I was staring at the sun for too long.

(Normally I'd hate lights and glows and all that bright stuff due to a certain _annoying_ battle, but…)

My eyes squinted as I tried to spot any speck of black behind the light. Then, when I was sure it was him, the person who was cringing away in horror from the girl – I quickly ran up to Bacon, and took a big punch at him square in the face.

(Thanks, Girl in Danger.)

The punch was hard enough to cave in his skull. My knuckles crushed the bones between his eye and nose.

_I knew it. He isn't human._

I smirked. There was definitely a foul monster on the train, alright.

"Wha… Damn!" He clasped a glove over his left eye, blood trailing down his cheek and sputtering away in the wind. I briskly picked up the girl and jumped off the car before he could do anything else. But, looking back, it wasn't like he would've done anything anyway. He stood on the train, his back hunched and his face obscured, as it went farther away. He rode off with a nasty glare at the two of us until he disappeared.

The girl stayed in my arms, still asleep. We stood there in the middle of the plains for a moment, the full moon residing behind us, as I watched the train travel off into the distance.

The wind lingered nothing more than a gentle breeze.

**To be continued.**

* * *

**Author's Note: **Second chapter will be posted next week.**  
**


	3. Chapter 2

_Disclaimer: I do not own Shadow Hearts._

* * *

**SHADOW HEARTS: A NOVELIZATION**

**Chapter Two  
**

_(Yuri's POV)_

ALRIGHT. A BACKTRACK of everything that just happened: I got on a top-notch Japanese army train, defeated some big bad guy that practically killed every officer in the car, and saved a cute girl from abduction from said bad guy. Pretty nice job, if I did say so myself.

(And now we were in the middle of nowhere. What was that about a pretty nice job again?)

Well, "we" was probably not the right term to use. The girl was still asleep. I had laid her on the ground as I took a look at our surroundings.

We were in an open field, near the train tracks where we just jumped off. There was no sound of anyone wandering near, only the crickets that chirped and the water flowing in a small stream. I tapped my foot impatiently.

_Now whaddya want me to do, Voice?!_

No response. No orders, no whispers, no nothing. Only a soft moan as the girl woke. I turned to her as she stood back up again, probably a little dizzy from the busy train ride. She regained her stature and blinked her blue eyes up at me.

"Yo there. Finally comin' to, huh? If you're looking for the train, it's long gone," I said.

I watched the girl as she turned her head around. Though she wore a navy blue and white dress, it barely revealed any skin. There were long sleeves with white ruffles at the end, and despite the fact that the skirt of her dress reached above her knees, her legs were covered with tall white stockings. I assumed her light-blonde hair could reach past her shoulders, since it was braided all the way back into a bun. She even topped it off with a tidy blue bow.

She was, awkwardly, prim and proper.

(Hmph. That's no fun.)

But still, she was cute. I had no idea what a white girl was doing in the middle of China (then again, people were probably suspicious of what _I'm _doing in China too), much less why she was even being escorted on the Japanese army's train. But who cares? She was _attractive._

"Heh heh… pretty exciting, huh? You getting a tingly feeling?" I asked, then took a step closer and reached towards her. "Right about here?"

Her immediate reaction was squeaking and jumping back. "N-No… stay away!"

"Stay away?!" I baffled. "I haven't even done anything yet!"

The girl stared at me, terrified, trembling like she was in some sort of unsteady mental state. She backed away slowly, the soles of her small shoes pressing on the thin grass.

"Stay… stay back, please… I… I can't…" The light-blonde clasped the cross on the neck of her dress tightly, mumbling weird, inaudible sentence fragments. I wasn't sure if she was talking to me, or to herself. "No… I… I can't do anything, I…" She spun around and made a run for the other direction.

I balked. "Huh?! Uh… where do you think you're going? I'm telling you, it's not safe that way."

Past the grass, she was a tiny blue dot. I shook my head. "Aw, give me a break… hey—" I tried to think of her name, "—girlie! Don't run off like that!"

Despite my hollers, she completely disappeared. There was only one thing on my mind: _this chick was nuts. _Then, another thing:_ Ehh, I'll catch up with her sooner or later. _I strolled lazily over to the direction she ran in,

Suddenly a sharp pain jolted in me. I fell to the ground, my fingers clutching my head to keep it still. No, it _was _still – but it felt like my brain was about to burst, as it pounded on my skull and clobbered my head. Then, the voice spoke to me.

_DARK… AND LIGH… REUN..ED… PROTE… A… FIND YO… REAS… FO… LIVING…_

The echoes stopped. The gushing of water in the stream came back again.

(Pant, pant…)

"ARRGH!! That hurts! Not that damn voice again!" I yelled. Taking a last deep breath, I stood back up. "Stupid voices! Okay, I got it… I'm supposed to protect her, right?"

I had no idea why I was supposed to in the first place, but I ran after her anyway. I followed a dirt path past the trees, and she was still nowhere in sight. _How the hell did she run so fast? Rotten girl's the whole reason why the voice is bugging my brains off now! Why I oughta…_

"_Eeeeek!"_

I jerked my head up at the sound. She was nearby, and couldn't be far – this path was only one-way anyway.

I hastened my footsteps, following the trail until I spotted the girl lying on the ground.

"Hey! What are you doing? Wake up!"

She stayed still.

"Were you attacked or something? I TOLD you it was dangerous, didn't I…"

I examined her closely. Her chest moved up and down, so she was still breathing and, luckily, alive. Her bangs brushed against her eyelids lightly, and her pink lips stood out against her light skin.

I grinned. "Looks like I'm the one who's getting all tingly inside. Maybe I should make a move. He he…" I stifled my snickering, and moved closer, asking as innocently as I could, "Um, hello?"

She flinched. Her eyes had blinked hard underneath those pale lids and her eyebrows were now furrowed.

_Damn. So she is awake._

… _Well, this could be fun._

I kneeled down, murmuring to myself rather loudly, "Wonder if she'd mind if I…"

There was no change except for the extra tight clench of her fists. She was probably waiting for my next move, and then she'd whack me repeatedly in the head or something. And I already had enough of headaches for today, thanks to that voice.

I exhaled noisily, already tired of our little mind game, and stood back up. "Hey! Girl! Don't just lie there like a dead fish! Get up!"

Alarmed that I had known, she scrambled up to her feet. The girl turned around to face me, until she realized our faces were now in close proximity of a few centimeters.

She made a small gasp and jumped away. I glared at her in return.

"I bust my hump savin' you, then you take one look at me and run off… then you faint?" I thrust a pointing finger at her. "You got no manners, y'know that?"

I was surprised when she started talking. "A… A monster just suddenly…" she began explaining.

The girl's talk faded when I nodded back. Monsters were pretty common in this area – no, not just this area, but _everywhere _– so it'd be inevitable for a wanderer to get attacked along the road.

"Yeah. There's lots of hungry wolves and bloodsucking bats around here." I kept a wary eye out for any of those animals nearby as I talked. "You're probably attracting them. You smell pretty good, y'know."

The light-blonde was silent, as if unsure of what to say. So I continued.

"Anyway, don't run off like that, okay? 'Cause if I don't do like the voice says—" I jabbed a finger at my head, "—my head's going to split open!"

This time she stared at me, perplexed. "… Huh?"

I gave her a look back. "Don't 'huh?' me. Someone, or something, is pretty damn insistent that I protect you."

"Protect… me?" She seemed even more confused now, but I ranted on anyways, venting out my frustrations.

"That's right. It's always 'Go protect that person!' or 'Go to that town!' Stupid voice jumps into my head all the time. And now it's orderin' me to protect you. Anyway, at least I'm never bored. Wherever it tells me to go, there are always plenty of monsters."

It was true. If it weren't for that voice, I'd probably be wandering around aimlessly, with nothing to do but scrounge up some money and get in a bunch of arguments with shopkeepers. Now, I could scrounge and argue _while _being on an adventure. At least it kept me busy.

(But I could do much better without those damn headaches.)

Still, this particular adventure was different from the rest – for one thing, I never would've imagined I'd be stuck with this girl.

And this girl was now coming to understand what was going on. "So that's why you were on the train?"

"Yup. But thanks to that voice, I'm changing from your ordinary bad boy type into a real psycho."

I thought she'd agree with me. After all, it wasn't everyday that a random street rat would go out and grab you from the train, then go off ranting that it was because "the voice inside his head told him to". That sort of thing was how people end up locked in the looney bin.

But instead, her shoulders drooped down comfortably. She was less stiff, and definitely less jumpy, than before.

_Why?_

"Hey…" I dared to take a step closer to her. "What about you? Hey, are you psycho, too? Do you see weird things?"

It took her a minute of thinking before she nodded, and answered, a bit mysteriously, "… Maybe."

I gaped at her. A girl like her hearing voices too? She wore a cross on her dress, and the Bible was even peeking out of her pockets. The _Bible_, for god's sake. (Whoa, no pun intended there, heh heh.)

She was a typical, normal, goody-two-shoes church girl. How could the total opposite of me be hearing voices too?

"Well, you don't seem quite like me, but… whatever." No sense standing around figuring out what these cuckoo voices are up to. "We can't just chat all day. First, we've got to find a place to rest. And I'm getting hungry."

I started walking ahead, listening to the following footsteps behind me. They were slow and hesitant. The mood felt kind of awkward.

_Oh. I know._

I stopped to turn and look at her. "Whoa, almost forgot. My name's Yuri." She blinked at the sudden introduction. "You can call me Yuri," I added lamely.

"Yuri…" She recited the foreign name, a small trace of an English accent revealed through the attempt. "I'm Alice Elliot. Please, call me Alice."

I grinned at her unnecessary courtesy. She really was the total opposite of me, but at least I didn't have to call her 'the girl' anymore. "Heh heh, Alice, huh? Even your name's cute."

The mood got awkward again.

"Okay! I got it! I won't touch you!" I broke the silence, swiveling back so I couldn't see her tentative expression. "Right, we're off!"

We walked along the narrow road for a while in total silence. Along the way, I concluded that Alice was either one, still suspicious of my trustworthiness, or two, a very, very slow walker. Her footsteps against the earth were barely audible.

I wasn't one to care about other's impressions of me, but if I had to be stuck protecting this girl – I mean, _Alice _– then she should at least have a bit of guts to walk next to me! What would happen if someone had snuck behind and grabbed her? I wouldn't have a single clue.

We found a stray path on the road that seemed to follow a good lead, but water had covered it to make it impossible to cross. Alice and I continued further on until I looked back and saw that she was several feet away from me.

"Hey! Why the hell are you so far away?!" I had to holler out to her. "You tryingto be kidnapped or something?"

"I-I'm sorry," she apologized hastily.

(Well, sorry's not good enough!)

I marched up to her angrily, my shoes stomping the gravel and kicking the dirt back behind. I stopped in front of her and she had to tilt her head slightly up at me, nervous. She controlled her breathing steadily, anticipating what I was about to do next.

I narrowed my eyes down at her.

"You… how old are you?"

Alice blinked, seemed to be taken aback by my question. "I'm… twenty years old."

I snorted. "Well, I'm twenty-four! I'm older, so I'm wiser, and I know what I'm doing! So ya gotta listen to me, and trust me some more, okay?"

Yup, that's what my mom always told me as a kid. Listen to your elders, they're wiser! At least now she'd know I wasn't leading the two of us to a dead end or something.

… Not. Alice looked around, and then asked dubiously, "Okay… so you know the way?"

"Yeah! In fact, we're—" I turned around and realized the path in front of us had stopped, nothing more than a bunch of sluice gates and oversized trees that blocked our way. "We're at a dead end."

"Um…" she walked up next to me and fixed her eyes on the gates. "Maybe if we do something with this sluice gate, we'll be able to cross the river."

"Huh?" I looked at the gates. Then at Alice. Then back at the gates. Then it dawned on me. "Ah, of course! Yeah, I was just thinking the same thing."

Awkward silence.

(Damn it, where was that voice when I needed it?)

I scratched my neck. "Er, anyway, let's have a little search, then." I could have sworn she shook her head once I turned my back to her.

We investigated all three of the gates, but found most of them rotten. The last one remaining seemed solid enough, and it proved to be working after Alice suggested using the nearby handle to open it up (to which I quickly interjected and said that I saw the handle too). The entry opened and the speed of the water poured rapidly.

I clapped my gloves together, dusting them off after a job well done. "Perfect! A little rusty, but I ain't complaining."

Though the water streamed even faster now, it still had a long way to go before the river would completely empty out.

"Looks like it'll take a while for the water to drain… Hey, I say we take a rest over there."

"R-Right."

* * *

THE BONFIRE DANCED over the twigs and pinecones collected. I was sprawled over the flat ground close, watching its flames flicker heavily. Red and orange were the only colors that shimmered in the black of night. It gave light to the trees and the river.

It gave light to Alice.

She had lied down on her side, her hands folded as a pillow underneath her head. Her eyes fluttered just a little as she breathed quietly, but she still remained deep in her sleep, forgetting the night she had just experienced. Like she was in a different place now.

(She's asleep.)

_What's that all about?! She's got some nerve…_

I gazed at her. Her face glowed in the fire, and I noticed her bangs had the habit of brushing her eyes every time she was asleep. Maybe 'light-blonde' was not enough to describe her hair color. It was light enough to even be considered as white. I had never seen such a strange shade on a girl.

She could be pretty, I thought, if she didn't braid her hair so modestly.

I distinctly remembered myself saying I wouldn't touch her. I didn't remember _promising_ I wouldn't.

_Yeah, to hell with it. I'm just gonna…_

Before I could inch any closer, Alice suddenly burbled a low noise and stirred in her sleep. I jumped back, afraid that I had voiced any, uh, lewd thoughts out loud.

"Unh, uhh…" she mumbled. "Father…"

My shoulders loosened up. "Wha… you talkin' in your sleep?! Don't scare me like that!"

The girl continued sleeping. She hadn't woken up after all.

_Boy! Why am I stuck protecting this damn girl?_

My eyes ate the twenty year old with annoyance. And of all dreams, she had to dream about her _dad_. Oh, please…

(Maybe I'm being a hypocrite…)

But, looking closer, I realized the subtle somberness of her expression. Her face softened and her lips curled downwards. Her breathing was slower.

It made me wonder where her dad was. I wondered what on earth she had been doing on that train without her dad. I wondered if she missed him.

_Missing your dad, huh…_

Something in my chest sank a little as I imagined the thought. But that same something started beating faster when the large bonfire suddenly burned out. A menacing air filled the smoke from the fire. _The one I'm all too familiar with._

I jumped to my feet, raising my fists in panic. My voice wavered, shaky. "This aura, it's…"

And then he appeared.

The man who emerged above the bonfire. The man who wore a long trench coat. The man whose face was masqueraded by the same fox mask I've remembered since childhood.

"At last we meet…" he spoke, his voice that could almost cut anyone's throat dampened by the mask.

"Dad—" I whispered hoarsely. "What—what are you doing here?!"

"I've come to visit you, boy. The souls of the monsters you've killed are quite lonely, you see…"

Something was stuck in my throat. "Souls of the… monsters…?!"

The man turned to Alice. The black oval eyes of the mask gazed down at her. "What a lovely face. And yet, I must show proper courtesy. It is thanks to this woman's power that I am even here."

My breathing turned hard as I stared wide-eyed at Fox Face. "Her power? What?!"

"Haven't you noticed? This world overflows with the ghosts of the monsters you've slain. The gate of eternal darkness was closed until now, you see… this woman is causing it to open!" He motioned towards Alice. "The ghosts inside the darkest depths of your heart… they call to me, boy. And they demand that I take your soul!"

He bellowed with laughter, an evil laughter that could scare away the whistle of the wind and the hoots of the owls. Fox Face disappeared above the bonfire, and reappeared in front of it. Each time his body was gone, it would re-emerge closer and closer to me.

"Stay away!" I yelled, swinging my arm as I backed off. For a few seconds he had completely vanished, until I turned around and saw black eyes, Then I was struck against the head.

Darkness.

A high-pitched creak that grated my ears.

The smell of the dead…

When I opened my eyes again, gray fog clouded my vision. If I squinted hard enough, past the mist there were several graves up ahead. An iron fence ran around the outside of the yard. It occurred to me I was still lying on the ground.

I leaped back up and almost hit myself against the lantern from the gate behind. The headache faded away into fatigue.

"Unh,.. What's goin' on… Where am I?! This is just like my dreams!"I rolled the neck of my trench coat up. Unlike my dreams, I could actually feel the coldness from the mist.

Then I realized what just happened. "Huh?! Where's…?! Where is he?!" I put my fists up. And this time, I'd be ready.

But he was gone for good now.

"Heh heh, so he didn't come with me, eh? Damn! I can't believe this." I unclenched my fingers and dropped them to my sides, deciding to observe the small graveyard instead. "Honestly, this is a pretty lame illusion."

(If… if it is an illusion.)

I trudged further in, passing by gravestones with strange marks on them. They were all the same size, but each picture etched on the stones was different. I counted how many there were.

Six.

"Yup, this is it all right. The graveyard from my dreams. Aw, man, I don't wanna be remembering this!"

Flashbacks of nights from the past ten years spilled in my memories. I'd be lost, running around aimlessly across the misty yard, souls of the monsters floating out of the graves and chasing me. They'd stretch their arms as long as they wanted. Their claws would scrape against the flap of my jacket. I'd be too slow, or I'd trip, or I'd run into a dead end, and…

And then I'd wake up in a cold sweat just as a monster's about to devour me.

I shook my head, as if to somehow wobble off the surreal experiences. "No, no, NO! Nothin' but trouble ever since that voice freakin' showed up! Maybe I've lost it completely."

I didn't notice I was pacing around in circles, ranting off to myself about how everything was going wrong.

"First, Dad jumps out of my nightmare and shows up right before my eyes… and now I'M in the dream! I save that girl and I don't get so much as a SMILE. C'mon, aren't they supposed to get all dewy-eyed—" I clasped my hands together, batting my eyelashes, "—'Ooh, Mr. Yuri! Thank you ever so much! SMOOCH!'"

The raspy creak of the old, worn-out gate was the only sound that filled the silence after that.

"… Ain't that how it's s'posed to go?"

_Creeeeeak._

(Oh man, now I'm all depressed.)

Obviously, going off on a tirade wasn't helping any. For one thing, I was still stuck in the graveyard. _Damn graveyard. Damn voice. Damn girl._

I trekked up ahead until I reached a mausoleum. The crypt seemed to be completely shut, with no lock to try to fix open, so it didn't look like I would be able to enter past the chamber.

Not only that, there were four masks guarding in the front. They floated with permanent sinister smiles as I approached them.

"That door…" I examined it, then said, "Now I see. So it was you all along pulling the strings, eh?"

The sword mask was the first to speak. "We are pleased to meet you, boy… The detestable young Harmonixer who damned us to eternal hell…"

I laughed, waving my hand in modesty. "He he, no need to thank me. But to be honest, I really haven't missed you guys at all."

"Ho ho ho… your pathetic bravado can't hide your fear."

I glared at the staff mask and put my fists back up, prepared to fight. "Keep laughin'!!" I dared. "I'll slice that stupid mask in two!"

The third mask that taunted me reflected off a gold color. "Ha ha ha! Your mind may not comprehend this place, but your heart understands it full well. This world is a reflection of your own mind's darkness, darkness you have created yourself."

_I created this?_

There was no way. I hated this place. I hated the monsters and masks that inhabited this place. I'd be the last person to create a world like this… and yet, I kept my mouth shut.

The masks didn't.

"Ho ho ho… The more of our brethren roaming around the world you strike down, the more you shall become saturated with venomous Malice, born of their bitter vengeance…" The grail mask scooted farther near the tightly-closed door.

"And when the limit is passed, so then shall HE be reborn into the word of the living. Ho ho ho… The man, the very thought of who make you shrink in terror…"

Fox Face appeared behind the door, laughing as I startled backwards. He disappeared.

My hands started shaking. My head grew hotter. I was fuming like a tea kettle.

"Enough! Shut your stinkin' mask face! That's enough!!" I walked up the steps and faced each one of the four masks. "You think I'm scared?! Don't make me laugh! I've been huntin' monsters for over ten years."

I swung my arm towards them threateningly. "I can handle one or two of those guys with a flick of a finger! You got that, you bodiless freaks!"

The sword mask chortled, his empty eye sockets in the hilt staring down at me. "Ha ha ha… Don't get so excited. You loved your father so much, that now you're wandering aimlessly in search of him."

I locked eyes at the mask, heaving a dark glare at the mention of my dad. "Stay out of this! It's none of your concern!"

_Who do they think they are… what the hell is so wrong with going out for revenge for my parents…!_

"Heh. Strange words for someone who still desperately wants to believe his father is alive somewhere…"

I snapped my head up at the staff mask and clenched my fists. My fingers could've broken off any time soon.

"You… now you're really starting to me piss me off! Say another word and I'll smash your smirking faces in!!"

The gold mask took a liking to my idea of a fight. "Ha ha ha! Slow down, boy. Worry not, we have a proper opponent for you. To sweep away the accumulation of Malice, you must do battle!"

All four masks began calling forth something from behind the gates. The doors flung open, and red eyes shone behind the darkness. A creature emerged from the black, his back hunched and his tail dragged across the ground.

Once the lizard-like monster spotted me, he charged forward. His mouth bared sharp teeth, his claws dug into the soil. He swung his tail at me, but I dodged and quickly loped towards the monster. I smashed my knuckles into the scales of his face, beating him up repeatedly until he could no longer stand.

I laughed as he fell limp and no longer moved. Typical monster opponent.

"Hah!! C'mon, at least give me some sort of challenge! Who's next? You guys?!"

"Ho ho ho… Well done. Your victory has swept aside the vengeance of our brethren. And it appears that the reactions of that cursed talisman you hold have vanished as well," the grail mask noted.

_Huh? _I looked down at my pendant. The gem from the necklace had turned to a light color of blue.

_That's weird, I could have sworn it was an orange-red shade earlier…_

The sword mask interrupted my thoughts before I could make any sense of the talisman. "Heh heh heh… It's too early to get cocky, boy. This purification is only temporary."

"What's that supposed to mean?!" I asked. For some reason the rasp of his words seemed threatening.

"Ho ho ho…" the staff mask answered for the sword. "When you return to your world, killing our compatriots will only result in increased Malice. Then you will come back here to lower it. No matter how many you slaughter, this hell will continue."

"Ha ha ha! Then, in due time, HE will be resurrected… The man you fear more than Death itself!" the gold – or was that the staff? – argh, forget it, it didn't matter which mask said what! I was too confused with their lame-ass ominous foreshadowing to pay any attention.

"Tee hee hee… Do you intend to keep on running away forever…?"

"Ho ho ho… How much easier it would be for you to simply come here in death."

I turned around, waving a finger at the four freaks behind. "Enough! Shut up!"

And I walked away. How easy it could've been if I had just done that in the first place. I couldn't believe I actually wasted my time killing off some weak monster, and what's worse, _listening _to those masks yap on and on.

What was that again? Something about killing monsters and increasing their Malice? And then having to go back to that godawful graveyard…

(Yeah, there was no way I could've made a world like that.)

And then he will be resurrected… the man I feared the most…

_Who?_

I asked myself this question by the time I reached the gates, at the spot I was the first time I came here. Who was the man I feared the most? I didn't know anybody, and I sure as hell wasn't scared of anybody.

Those masks were probably bluffing, that was it. They just liked to toy with my mind.

But if that was so, why would my blood run cold every time I thought of "that man"? Why would I tremble? Why would I be afraid?

… Why would I feel like he was coming soon?

"… _EASE! Wa… up!!"_

… Huh?

I swiveled my head around, but no one else was in the graveyard. That voice, it was not the usual voice that would order me around and tell me to do this and that, it was not the voice that had haunted me for the past few years, but it sounded so familiar…

"_Yuri…! Please, open your eyes!"_

Yuri. A slight English accent.

My knees fell to the ground as I gripped my head. "Aargh! My head again!!"

I blacked out. But I felt Alice's presence beside me.

"Wake up! Wake up, please! Yuri…! Please, open your eyes!"

I did. Her face was the first thing I saw. She was kneeling beside me, staring down, eyes so worried and frightened. They relaxed when I became conscious again.

We both stood up. I gazed at the burnt pinecones and twigs where the fire used to flicker.

"So… he's back." I murmured to myself.

"Are you all right?" Alice roused me from my dark train of thought. "You were having a nightmare… Mumbling about masks… And 'Malice'."

I waved a hand while shaking my head. "… None of your business. My head's really starting to hurt, that's all." I stroked my forehead tiredly. "Whew… how long was I out?"

"Only two or three minutes since I found you," Alice explained, her hand wrapped into a fist against her chest. "But you seemed to be in such pain…"

"Nothin' to worry about. I always have nightmares. Ever since I was a kid."

I stopped mumbling and looked up at the night sky. The full moon was going to disappear soon – the dark clouds would cover it.

"… C'mon, let's go."

* * *

WE CROSSED THROUGH the path from before, the river having emptied out. I didn't speak much after what happened. I was too busy with my own thoughts.

Our tracks continued to another road that was, just like the other one, a one-way. For a while I thought we'd be going off to nowhere.

Then, as I squinted and tried to see far ahead, I realized there was a small glow illuminating from a place. I perked up at this and pointed at the glow.

"Hey! Look at those lights! It's a town."

I looked back at Alice, who was staring at me, her lips in a silent firm line.

"Why the long face? We'll have food, and a bed to rest on!" With those pros in mind, I quickened my pace towards the town. Alice seemed to follow slowly. I was about to spin around and call her to walk faster, until a familiar pain took a stab in my head.

I dropped down, my brain rattling against my head. This time it was even louder. The voice was more vigilant than usual.

_BE CAREF… …. … GUAR..IAN … PURG…TORY … MAN..EATER.. TR..P …WAIT…_

(Pant, pant…)

The jangling stopped. I found myself staring at my hands and the dirt.

"It's… gone…?" I stood back up, scowling. This time I had enough – I was freaking pissed at _all _the headaches that'd occurred to me in one night! I kicked the ground, sending small rocks and gravels flying off a few feet away.

"Aaargh!! Leave me alone! Damn you!! Leave me ALONE! I'm not a damn marionette, you hear me?!"

"Um, Yuri…" Alice spoke up. "That voice."

"Yeah, what about it?!" I stopped shouting at the sky and reeled a glare at her.

She looked intently at me before saying, "I heard it, too…"

I gawked. It took a while before I could catch my breath again. "Really?!"

Alice nodded.

"Yes. I don't think it means us any harm. I didn't sense anything evil about it." She gazed up at the sky, a bare difference compared to when I was yelling and shaking my fist at it a few seconds ago. "I think… It feels like it just wants to tell us something."

I stared at her in silence for a while. She was so calm and serene, watching the clouds crawling over towards the moon. For some reason, her rational thinking cooled me down too.

It also amused me. She acted like she was talking about somebody else. "Oh yeah?" I asked. Alice didn't seem to notice my grin.

"Let's head for the village," she suggested, walking over to the direction of the dim light. She passed by me and her scent wafted through my nose for a few seconds. It was the first time she had ever walked ahead.

_That Alice… She hears the voice, but it doesn't bother her!_

_Why?_

Before I could come to any conclusion, I realized she was now several feet ahead of me.

"Hey, wait up! Don't leave me here!" It was also the first time I had to catch up with her.

As I ran after my new accomplice and the village, the pendant swished around my neck, dangling through the jog. If I had stopped to look at the talisman encrusted in the middle, I would have noticed the clouds that began to form beneath the stone.

I would have noticed it was not the same shade of blue as it was before.

I did not realize until it was too late that that this was the moment the Malice started changing – from the light blue it held in the graveyard, to the greenish color it transitioned into as I ran up to Alice.

_And then, sooner or later, it will change into the blood red color the Malice was meant to be._

But that was sooner or later.

And right now, the only thing I focused on was finding a place to rest.

**To be continued.**

* * *

**Author's Note:** Third chapter, in Alice's POV, will be posted next week.


	4. Chapter 3

_Disclaimer: I do not own Shadow Hearts._

_

* * *

_

**SHADOW HEARTS: A NOVELIZATION**

**Chapter Three  
**

_(Alice's POV)_

IT WAS MANY, many years ago when I was a child, and my father began warning me of my powers. I was full aware of them, for why else would I accompany Father and his exorcisms – I had been hearing supernatural voices ever since I was little. One night, my father kneeled down next to me, his warm hand holding mine for safe comfort. "Listen, Alice," he spoke softly, and yet so firmly at the same time. His smell of old ginger tickled my nose. "You have a unique power that very rare people possess. That is why others will try to take advantage of you and use it for their own destruction…" For a second, his hand tightened.

And I knew then, that even if we had stayed like that forever, I would never be truly safe.

It was only three months ago when my father died.

The newspapers were extremely productive the few weeks after. Articles spread like wildfire. Reprints and copies were constantly ordered.

_"PRIEST BRUTALLY MURDERED BEFORE SUNRISE!"_ Big block letters would scream to any passerby walking near the paper stands. _"His body lay scattered, as if savaged by a beast…"_

Murmurs and gossip increased reader after reader. Others remained silent, for the goose bumps on their necks was enough to tell their reaction. And yet, every single one of them, whether they chose to discuss the topics or pretend such a gruesome incident never happened, stared at the morbid gray-toned picture in disbelief.

The nearby lantern shone a dim light upon my father's corpse. His blood dripped from the broken splinters of wood. His blood dripped from the broken splinters of bones. He was everywhere behind that alley in the church – every single part of him.

And I was there. Not in the picture… _there_.

I saw Roger Bacon kill my father. I could remember the scene so vividly, it haunted me whenever I closed my eyes.

A month passed and still no leads. The case was dropped and became old news, old news that people would only pick back up again and shake their heads somberly before throwing the paper away in the garbage. Then the obscurity of the cause of death was forgotten. But I still remember it.

My father said I had extraordinary powers, one that could bring world domination. Father would never lie to me, but I could not help but consider the possibility of him mistaken. Because that night, in Rouen, France, behind the church—when Roger Bacon appeared and tried to abduct me, succeeded in killing my father, and so many other horrible things—

_"His daughter, believed to have been traveling with him, is missing…"_

_I couldn't do anything…_

"Hey, wait up! Don't leave me here!"

A man ran up to the front of the wooden gates of the village until he caught up next to me. He panted a bit and regained his breath as I stared up at the colossal door. It was eerily silent behind.

"What's up? Something wrong?" he asked. I snapped my head back at him.

The man's name was Yuri.

It was a strange name, one unfamiliar to my English tongue. Yuri, a Japanese name, but I had never seen eyes that shade of red before. _He must be a mixed_, I thought. Neither had I seen anyone's skin as toned as his in a long time, having mostly traveled through the pure white in Europe and only seeing a glimpse of pale yellow in Asia when I was escorted to Japan.

(That was when he saved me on the train…)

"That voice…" I murmured. "It tried to warn us about danger in this village, something waiting to devour us. That's what it started to say, anyway. I think we should be extra careful."

I tried my best to act calm, but Yuri laughed instead. "Ha ha, how cool'n'collected you are! You talk as if it's happening to someone else."

I gazed at the beckoning gates. The loftiness could almost plummet down on the two of us from this point of view. Whatever awaited us, whether it was misery, suffering, or despair… seemed like it _had _happened to other people before. Hundreds of others. I could not explain how, but the village breathed a dry air of malevolence.

"But not to worry. Nothin' can surprise me at this point."

Perhaps I had been very palpable with my expressions, but Yuri gave off the impression of a mind-reader. Every time I was just a little bit scared, he'd notice. Then he would say something reassuringly casual, like we were talking about the weather or going out for a stroll in the night.

He spoke with chapped lips. He was dirty and uncouth, and his hair was in such a big furry mess that it looked to be a nightmare for anyone to detangle the brown roots out. I wondered where he came from, and why "the voice" wanted him to meet me…

"Hey, look!!" a voice cried. Both our heads turned to the strangest sight fathomed: two Chinese children, one with yellow eyes, the other with red.

Yuri withdrew words from before and was completely startled. "Wh-Wha?!" He ran up to the gates. "D-Damn brats!! Don't freak me out like that or I'll kick your scrawny little asses!"

"I knew it!" the red-eyed child exclaimed. The yellow-eyed child nodded eagerly and said, "You're right! It's true!"

Yuri kicked the gate, rattling a hollow noise from the door. "Huh? Look, you brats live here, right? Here in town? Great. Open the gate." He finished his sentence abruptly and kicked another time. Then again, more impatient. _Kick kick kick kick._

I forgot to mention that Yuri also had the tendency to be rude and foul-mouthed. He liked to fling curse words around without a single care of another person's feelings. I sighed.

_But even so, I believe there must be a reason why God, through this special chance of fate, has put the two of us together._

There was. I would not realize this until I walked into the graveyard of Yuri's mind many months from now.

But that story will be told much, much later.

I straightened myself, holding my Bible closer to my chest as I took a few steps closer to the gate. "Sorry to trouble you so late, but we're lost. Would you allow us to stay here for the night?"

The two children took immediate notice of me. Their eyes widened, perhaps even glimmered a little, as they squeezed their noses through the portly bars of the gates.

"Hey… That's a woman, right?!" The red-eyed child forgot to close his mouth, letting his jaw hang wide open.

"Yeah, she's TOTALLY a girl, right?! Nice and soft!"

Their odd comments concerned me and aggravated Yuri. "Do you understand the words that are coming out of my mouth?" he asked, but had to jump back when the children suddenly opened the gates for us.

They ran up to me, their arms swinging joyfully by their sides, and stopped to smile a toothy grin. I felt uneasy with the two of them so close.

"Eh heh heh! It's okay, you can come in!"

"Thank you."

"Our house is at the very end of the square. We'll be waiting! Bye!"

They raced off into the village, shouting and yipping in elation. Normally, children would run around yelling to play tag or hide and seek. But these two had disappeared farther away, and Yuri and I could listen to their echoes across the village of "whee, whee, we have a girl!" and "gotta go tell Granny Mayor right away!"…

It faded into nothing but silence. I glanced over at Yuri. He looked at me back.

If only briefly. He shrugged and walked into the town. The back of his trench coat swaying back and forth was the only sign of movement in the otherwise motionless village.

(It was motionless, but did not have any air of tranquility.)

Every step I took past the gates, my shoes would sink just a little bit in the heavy soil. Huts from far away beseeched us to move closer, but the outside world warned us to run.

I hesitated.

But I followed Yuri anyway.

_(Because where else would I be able to go…?)_

There were people in the Zhaoyang village, but very few. Some wandered around the dirt road, quietly keeping to themselves but eyeing the two of us as we walked by. Others would sell food behind the wooden shacks that lined each side of the road. Battered meat hung from thin ropes, and shopkeepers stared passerbys down with such lifeless eyes.

They shared tired tales to anyone who would listen.

"It's no point, really," one of the shopkeepers said. He had beady eyes and a tiny nose. He shook his head sadly. "There's never enough food for anybody. They're all hoggers, that's what they are."

We bumped into another woman along the dirt road. Her face was red and bloated. She had large breasts that hung low over her stomach.

The woman wheezed as she asked if we had seen any of her children. We said no, only the two red and yellow eyed boys. She wiped her forehead tiredly, sweat dripping from the back of her hand.

"After all the pain and trouble of even _having _kids…. They're all gone the next day anyway…"

She stopped searching and trudged back to a small hut.

The shacks lessened by the end of the square. The children's house with Granny Mayor was the only cottage in the area, as they had promised. Orange lights appeared through the window and muffled talking took place inside.

But what had caught my attention was the clearing beyond the house. A shrine sat clear ahead, weeds and rotten plants growing beside. The temple was dark and poorly constructed, but an ominous wickedness lurked beneath…

"Ya think we should check that out?"

Yuri was suspicious as well. We decided to take a detour into the shrine.

My shoes made soft crunching sounds when I stepped in the darkness. Yuri's was louder. It took a few seconds of squinting underneath the lantern to recognize what was going on inside.

There were rows and rows of…

"Th-those are all…"I gasped and moved back, staring horridly at the filthy skeletons piled. Their legs were crushed and their arms dangled over each other. "Bones! Human bones! The bones of people… killed here! What's happening in this village…?!"

Yuri leaned down and inspected some bones on the ground. His gloves brushed cross the rigid organs and cracked some of the dry blood.

"Looks like the voice was right. These people're cannibals."

A small altar was in the middle, kept safe and unharmed. A turquoise statue with six arms and a staff sat above a dim light. It was then I realized that the carcasses' arms were not just strewn randomly on top of the others – they were all reaching towards the same direction, their hands wide open, their fingers longing to seize. _The altar._

I, too, pointed towards the statue. "Look over there, that shrine… It's as if it holds all the anger of people that died here."

My low whisper faded and Yuri did not speak. We did not know what to say, or what to do… We were frozen for that single moment, just staring in dreadfulness at the dead and murder.

"Hee hee… good travelers, you like the shrine?"

The two of us jumped and spun around. A vacant-eyed old man smiled, his hands humbly tucked behind his back. The emptiness of his eye sockets seemed to stare at us down in amusement.

"What is it, pops?!" Yuri shouted.

"Hee hee… Looking for the Black Tortoise God that was enshrined here? He's been gone for six months!"

I looked back at the altar. The dim light beneath had shut out. He turned from a marble turquoise to an iron black. There was nothing holy about him – instead, his aura was more filled with vengeance.

_That's not the Black Tortoise God, is it…?_

"Yes, to pacify the Earth Spirits, humans deified him, and built this shrine." The old man had noticed my eyes watching the statue. "It's all such nonsense! But now with the troublesome Black Tortoise God gone, we're free to do as we please! We can even take the form of humans! We couldn't ask for more!"

He smiled smugly. But his smile was not human.

No one in this village was human. The mouse-faced shopkeeper, the cow-breasted mother, they were all—

"The only problem is now we get hungry… It's all thanks to the new protector of our town, Yamaraja!"

_Who would be such a cruel 'protector' to let the people of this town starve and resort to cannibalism? _ This was no god. This was a monster.

"Yamaraja? What kind of a name for a demon is that?" Yuri raised an eyebrow and glanced over at the shrine. "I suppose I'd find him in that shrine there?"

The vacant-eyed man was taken aback by the twenty-four-year-old's bluntness. "How—how insolent! But, no matter. You won't last long. Tonight there'll be a special feast, for our rare guests." He licked his lips and eyed us up and down, but particularly… me. "Now, you just run along and say hello to Granny Mayor. Hee hee…"

He chuckled quietly to himself as he left the two of us alone. Or… alone with all the other dead bodies.

My heartbeats ran so fast, I thought my own heart would burst out of my chest. I swiveled over to Yuri in panic.

"Don't tell me we're going to be eaten…?" I barely managed to voice the end of my sentence.

He contemplated the possibility for a moment. Eyeing the skulls at his feet, Yuri then looked back up and stroked his chin in deep thought. Finally, he answered, "Hmm, well, I don't know about you, but I'm not too fond of that idea."

I stamped my foot angrily. "I'm not happy about it either, I can tell you!"

He pulled his head back and started laughing. "Ha ha ha! It's all right, I'll protect you."

I blinked, confused for a moment until I realized what he was doing.

He was teasing me.

"Heh, well, it's fine to get a little riled up once every now and then," he said, before treading back out the shrine. "Good to know you do have a little fire under there."

I huffed. _Of course I'd be angry, we're about to be eaten!_

No, no... I shook my head to clear of such unpleasant thoughts. It wouldn't do any good. Right now we had to focus on what to do next. Rational thinking.

I followed Yuri out, gazing at the swaying movement of the back of his trench coat. Though I really should have been planning our next actions for this new dilemma, I couldn't help but puzzle over his words.

"_It's all right, I'll protect you."_

"Ooh, it's the girl from before! Thank goodness!!" We glanced up at the two children from before. They stood on the front porch of their house, the door open behind them as they waved to us. "You really came!! We're so glad!! C'mon, c'mon, come inside!!"

They raced back inside, giggling and whispering. Yuri muttered something incoherent under his breath and walked towards the doorstep.

(Protection…)

_"Listen, Alice... You have a unique power that very rare people possess...."_

My fingers wrapped tightly around the binding of my book, and I trailed after him into the house.

(Father, I want to believe you, but...)

_… Being protected seems like the only thing I can do..._

_

* * *

_

AN OLD WOMAN gazed deeply into the fire of an open pit when we entered. She kneeled down in front of an altar with lit candles burned around her. She sat still, her expression of deep concentration never changing even when the two children barged in yelling and shouting.

Yuri also joined in, striding across the wooden floors, as I treaded softly behind. The boards creaked and scattered traces of bones lied beside the entrance.

"So you're the mayor's wife? Great!" Yuri quickly began. "As you can see, I have a lady with me. We sure could use a bed for the night."

His lewd grin and flitting of eyes towards me was suspicious, but I chose not to correct him and say separate beds. The woman did not look up anyway.

"Yes, yes! I heard all about you from the children. You just make yourselves at home." The mayor lady feigned her voice as warm as the fire from the pit she was warming her hands with. "We rarely get visitors here. We don't have much for you, but please wear your weary bones."

I eyed the dirty fillets draped across the soil where the wooden boards stopped stretching. I was sure many others had rested their bones for far too long.

"Hey, thanks, ma'am. We'll be out of your way by early morning," Yuri assured.

"Hee hee…" The woman chuckled. "Now, now, no need to rush. You just stay as long as you like!"

I stepped forward. "Thanks, ma'am. It's kind of you to let us stay, having just shown up in the middle of the night like this."

A smile played on her lips. The flames flickered higher in joy, reaching towards loose strands of gray from her tied hair.

"What a nice-mannered young lady. But you don't have to worry about your manners so much here." The fire almost stood still for a second.

"… For, it won't change the taste of their meat."

I swallowed hard, and my muscles tensed. I wondered if Father could see me from up above now. What would he want me to do? Stay and see what happens? Or run away and escape from the villagers?

Yuri was not as hesitant as I was and roared laughter instead. "Kind woman!" he said. "You all talk as if you're going to have us for supper!"

The mayor lady laughed along with him. All the expressions of amusement did not calm my nerves at all, but made my throat run dry instead. Granny Mayor knew what she was going to do… but what about us?

"Hee hee hee… Well, at least one of you has brains! Eat you both, we will!" She stood up as the fire weakened into a dim flame. "I've got to tell Yamaraja we have an offering for her. Hmph, let me go through here…"

We watched her leave the house, her hunched back then covered by the close of a door. She was going to the shrine again to meet the new god of the village. But a true god would never want their own villager, or an innocent traveler, to be involved in such a meaningless sacrifice…

I was so deep in troubled thoughts that I did not realize the two children were still in the room. The red-eyed child skipped to the door with a cheery wave of a hand.

"C'mon you two, here, take a load off!" he said, followed by the yellow-eyed child, who added, "Don't worry, we'll be right outside so you can't get away!"

Yuri did not seem to mind them running off, and instead paced around the room. He inspected a scroll on the wall that displayed a cannibal god, and then fiddled with tinkering ornaments on a table.

I spoke during his investigation. "We're in trouble now. Looks like they've got us trapped."

I was surprised by how calm I was able to sound, and hoped I could keep up the tone for a little while longer through this situation.

Yuri remained unusually composed as well. He pursed his lips and stroked his jaw for the second time this night.

"It appears so," he finally concluded.

Once again I stamped my foot in impatience. "How can you be so calm at a time like this?!"

First he did it at the shrine full of corpses, and now it was after the mayor lady confirmed our impending deaths. Did he really enjoy teasing me that much? And above all else, he just had to pick such a dire time to do so.

It was true that he was not all that stressed about our problem, though. With a careless toss of a hand, Yuri said, "Aw, c'mon, if you get too anxious, it'll just make you hungry."

_And who exactly is making things even more anxious here?_

"Let's take a rest, and see what their next move is," he decided.

I gave an exasperated sigh, but could not argue any further. A rest was something I could really use now. We had been wandering all night, and the only thing that kept my eyes open was unwarranted scares.

The fire had burned into nothing but ashes in the open pit. Yuri was respectful enough to lie down on the other side of the pit, while I slept facing the ash-filled hole. My eyelids sank Yuri's nest of brown hair from behind into darkness.

Darkness, and no sound. There would be a small creak from the floorboards every time one of us shifted, but that was it. Yuri uttered no light snores. He was controlling his breathing, fully conscious and ready for anything waiting to devour us. And I was as well.

I was not sure how much time had passed. I could only squint for faint shadows across the floor when the door creaked open. The shadows grew larger as one of them spoke.

"Hooray! Let's just have a tiny little taste!" an excited whisper came from up above.

"Quietly, now, or Granny Mayor's gonna kill us!"

As if we had both mentally agreed on the same plan, Yuri and I shot our eyes open and stood up in unison. The two children from before jumped back at the abrupt waken.

"Yikes! They're NOT asleep!" The yellow-eyed child hid behind the red-eyed one, as he pointed a trembling finger and stuttered, "Y-You tricked us!!"

Yuri cracked his back and neck and then made a satisfied sigh from his nap. He raised an eyebrow at the children.

"Well then, don't sneak up on us! And if you do, at least do a good job of it…" he muttered, and then raised his head and said threateningly, "You're finally ready to show yourselves for who you really are? Huh? Little goblin brats!"

They cowered, eyes darting back and forth in deliberation. The child with yellow eyes scowled.

"Darn! If we let you get away, everyone'll get mad and then they'll eat us up! And if we DON'T let you get away, they'll know we tried to sneak a taste, so they'll eat us anyway!"

"If we're gonna get eaten no matter what," the other one declared, "I at least wanna taste the girl! Lemme have the girl!"

The red-eyed child sprinted up towards me, but before I could hold my book up and defend myself, Yuri already jumped ahead and knocked him off. The child fell backwards and was sprawled onto the floor, his head thudding across the loose boards. Yuri gave a pompous laugh.

"Hah! Tough luck, kids!" He grinned. "If anyone's going to eat her, it's me!"

He pointed a thumb at himself and wagged his eyebrows up and down. I closed my eyes and shook my head. Perhaps it was better not to comment.

One of the children's eyes flared a brighter yellow. "Ooh, you're so bad," he hissed. The red-eyed child's fingernails grew inches longer into claws as he threatened, "We'll kill you!"

Together they charged, with Yuri always one step ahead. He dodged their slow scratches and prolonged kicks. Of course, with an experienced fighter like him, and only two inept children, it was easy to tell the little fight was going to be short.

They were no longer children, but rather like cat demons instead. Their eyes had grown wider, their pupils shortened into thin flits instead. Tails flung back and forth, and paws thrashed around to try to attack the man above them. Yuri seemed confident of his abilities over theirs though. My book hung loosely from my arms as I watched the two struggle underneath his knees, their heads being knocked over with his fists.

They howled and screeched and bucked their knees up to try to kick him off. Yuri smirked at their resistance and locked them to the ground for a while, until one of them opened their mouth wide and took a deep chomp into his arm.

Yuri yelled and pulled back the arm. The red-eyed child grinned and wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth, then turned towards me. In the blink of an eye I soon realized he was suddenly dashing in my direction. With a quick jump, he was able to elevate high enough and wave his claws at me. The blood on his fangs scattered in the air as sharp teeth bore closer and closer to my face.

The sound of Yuri shouting my name seemed distant now. With a shriek I immediately held my book up and whacked the demon as hard as I could. The leather smashed into his face and knocked him down. He lurched backwards and into Yuri, who beat him up all over until the red-eyed demon could no longer move. He was thrown on top of his brother, and the two lay sprawled over the floor, groaning.

"Oh noooo, Granny Mayooor!!" the yellow-eyed child called. The other slowly rolled over, clutching his stomach.

"He's not human…!" he could only moan out.

Those were their last words.

My breathing finally slowed to a regular pace, but the last sentence confused me. I looked over to Yuri, who was clasping his arm tightly as he huffed. He was different, yes, but there was nothing demonic about him.

"You'd just get the runs if you ate us, anyway!" he spat, buffing out his chest like a proud champion. He wiped the bottom of his lip with his thumb. "Got it, fools?"

They did not respond. I silently prayed they would go to a happier place in the afterlife, a place where there was enough food that they'd never have to starve and be forced to murder others to survive…

Maybe it was better for their lives to be shortened like this. They had become evil demons, and at least they would no longer suffer that way.

Yuri was staring at me. I blinked. "Yes?"

"I never knew you had it in you," he noted, his lips curling into a sly grin. "So the next time we battle, you can always just whack their heads off with a book! That's your special power!"

I wasn't sure if he was mocking me or not. "I don't whack people with books, and that's not my special power," I said. "My power is…"

I stopped and realized Yuri's arm was still bleeding.

I slowly reached a hand out towards him, but a shrill sound came from outside the house. Scuffling and even more moaning ambled behind the windows. I peered out the glass, but it was fogged by darkness and a faint shade of red.

"Yuri, it sounds like something's happening outside!"

"Oh? So the whole town's decided to show their true selves, have they?"

We ran out the porch of the house, and the sight was roughly the same as it was from inside. A dark mist filled the air and the ground was dampened by red. Having explored the village for a while, I knew all too well what the red was…

I gasped. "It's like a sea of blood! Is this what the village really looks like?"

Yuri watched the rest of the mist fade into the distance. His eyes were clearer and straightforward.

"Yes, this is what was left after the demons devoured the humans. Be careful. I think they mean business this time."

He was not serious in the teasing way as he was before. His tone was deeper and quieter, and when he spoke his words remained instead of fading off into the breeze.

And if Yuri was serious, it meant the situation was all the more dangerous.

The first thing on my mind was Granny Mayor. I remembered she said she had to tell Yamaraja about us.

The village was no longer different from inside the shrine. Each step we took crunched against the ground. Skulls were crushed and broken, but the shrines visibly displayed the corpses rather than smear the bones with dirt.

I waved the lingering mist out of my face as we walked further into the temple. The woman who was crouching in front of the turquoise statue stood up and turned to us.

"Eh?! How did you get here?! What have you done to my beloved children?"

Yuri's overconfident chortling calmed my nerves a bit from what was about to happen. "Hey, lady, I put the kiddies to sleep. Permanently."

Granny Mayor's eyes glowered down at us.

He took a step forward, his eyes never breaking contact. "Why don't you show us your true form, too? We're tired of this endless procession of fiends. We figured if we came here, and took care of you… Well, you know how it always works!"

It was her turn to act confident. She laughed and her dull eyes started glimmering at his challenge.

"Ha! Fools! Even if I die, the monsters will remain and you'll still be imprisoned in this town." Granny Mayor pointed to the statue behind her proudly. "Because all of this is the will of the great Yamaraja, protector of our village!"

No… this god wasn't protecting their village, this god was…

Yuri scoffed. "Yamaraja?" he spoke the name like it was a weird type of food. "C'mon, I could take care of him just by destroying the shrine back there."

The mayor lady shook her head, chuckling. Then she snapped her face up and stretched her arms wide.

"Take a good look!" she declared. "These are all the bones I've sacrificed to her! I used the malice of the townspeople, and made this fence to keep one and all away from her. As long as I'm alive, this fence will protect Yamaraja. Because without killing me, you can't get near the shrine!"

She waved her arms wildly, and I realized the bruises and scratches on her hands from all the work she had put herself through. The coarse scrapes from building barriers around the shrine, the wrinkled skin of her fingers through the labor, and the dry blood underneath her nails in all the sacrifices…

I was not sure who was the one more tortured – the people who were killed, or the person who had to kill her own villagers herself.

Yuri smirked. "So I was right after all! You ARE the one to get!"

When the mayor lady started cackling, her teeth grew sharper and her eyes became bloodshot. She took a few steps back, still laughing, as she said, "Hyah hyah hyah! First, you'll have to catch me! POOF! And I'm gone!"

A flash of light and a strong breeze surrounded her, and when the dirt of the wind descended, she had disappeared.

Confused, Yuri ran to the spot where she was standing and looked around.

"Where'd the demon-cat go?"

A familiar laughter echoed off the bloodstained walls, but she was still nowhere in sight. "Hyah hyah hyah! You're going to wander aimlessly through this village forever! Wither and die in the village where morning never comes! Hyah hyah hyah!!"

Yuri quickly became frustrated and clouted his arm in the air, as if to somehow catch the invisible demon before she could escape. "Damn it!! I'll skin your hide!!"

I studied the statue not so far away, surrounded by the old wooden fence. Yamaraja, as evil as she was, was still highly worshipped by Granny Mayor and the other villagers. Surely they would not just simply desert their god they put so much faith in, especially when they sacrificed more than enough for her.

"I don't think that cat-demon can escape this place any more than we can," I spoke.

Yuri nodded. "Yeah, she must be somewhere in this village. Let's find her."

We started a hunt throughout the village for the mayor lady. At first I thought it would prove difficult to locate someone who was invisible, but the town was small and I was always very sensitive to evil presences.

Her presence was different from the other monsters that roamed the village and tried to attack us during our search. It possessed a different kind of darkness, a different kind of pain… and I was able to quickly spot it near the well.

Yuri pumped his fists up. "Found you!"

The cat lady immediately jumped back. "Hyuk hyuk hyuk! You mean you didn't get eaten by my underlings yet. You're a tough cookie. Poof!"

Traces of dust scattered on our shoes as she disappeared again.

I was not very afraid of the others that would eat us. Yuri was strong enough to handle them off in a matter of seconds. He always used his right arm to strike against them. I was more worried about how we would be able to catch her.

The second time she was founded was near a closed store.

"Dammit! Yer not gonna get anyway this time!" Yuri used a swift punch with his right hand, but the demon quickly dodged him. She took amusement in his frustrations and my growing apprehension.

"Hyuk hyuk hyuk! Don't you think it'd be easier to just give up and let us eat you? Poof!"

Yuri glared at the nothingness. He tapped his foot impatiently as he finally had to think over our situation for the first time.

"At this rate, it's just the same thing over and over," he muttered. "I'm not getting anywhere…"

I did not want to agree, but he was right. It seemed like an endless chase for a monster that was too fast for us.

The dark clouds fully covered the moon. It was much past midnight, but it did not seem the day would come any time soon. Monsters still roamed throughout the town, and though they were easy enough for Yuri, I knew eventually he would grow tired.

But still, I envied him, for his resilience and his vitality this night. He wasn't too careless or overconfident, I realized. He was brave. He had strength, not in his physical brutality, but in his spirit. And that was something I did not have.

Then I remembered why he had been using his right arm ever since we left the mayor lady's house.

"Yuri," I called out suddenly. He broke from his train of thought and looked at me. "Your arm."

"Huh? What about it?" Yuri pulled it up and waved the body part around droopily.

"No, your other one…" I walked over to him, and he seemed surprised when I held his hand and pulled up his sleeve. With the coat sleeve all wrinkled and bunched up on his shoulder, his bare arm revealed the sight I had expected.

Blood was trailing down from above his elbow.

"Ahh, that," Yuri scratched his head with his other hand, "yeah, I guess when brats bite ya, it hurts, but when demon brats bite you, it's somethin' else. Don't worry about it though, I always get bloody—what're you doing?"

He gawked at my hand hovering over the bitten mark. The blood that was gushing out started diffusing away. My palms emanated a small orange light that warmed the both of us, and soon the wound became paler until it looked like nothing had ever happened.

Yuri's eyes were widened by the time I let go and he brushed a finger against the spot. He felt nothing.

"You can heal," he came to the conclusion.

I nodded.

He stared at the arm for a while until finally he rolled his sleeve back down after a cool breeze. He looked up at me, his eyebrows lowering and his mouth curving up.

"That's your power, eh? Thanks. I can take care of anyone who bothers us with both hands now."

I watched Yuri thrust a fist out with his right arm, and then his left. He seemed eager to beat up any monster now rather than be forced to.

The night was still dark, the demon villagers were still wandering, but the smile he gave me seemed as if it would not allow me a single moment to be afraid. I wondered if he did this on purpose. As we continued on, I moved closer to his side, and he willingly, though maybe unconsciously, obliged.

I was not sure how long I would go on this journey with Yuri, but I hoped that throughout it all I would be able to aid him in any hardships we might face. And, perhaps along the way, I could find my own strength, just like his.

_And maybe one day, it'll be my turn to save you, Yuri._

"Well, beating up monsters is fine, but we're still gonna be stuck in this rut," he grumbled. "What're we gonna do?"

At this point, it didn't look like there was anything to do. But we couldn't just stay in this village forever. I thought over this carefully and stared off at the empty shacks of the village.

Yuri would probably never admit it, but we needed help. Two travelers who just landed in the middle of China could not do this by themselves.

Only a helping hand could get us out of this village.

_Someone, anyone, please help… _I prayed.

… _But who?_

**To be continued.**_  
_

_

* * *

_

**Author's Note:** Final chapter will be posted next week._  
_


	5. Chapter 4

_Disclaimer: I do not own Shadow Hearts._

_

* * *

_

**SHADOW HEARTS: A NOVELIZATION**

**Chapter Four**

_(Zhuzhen's POV)_

"OH NO NO no no," my partner said.

He rattled the gates to pry it open, but no avail. The giant doors refused to separate, and he soon gave up with a sigh.

"Ah! We should have expected it. This is a pretty fishy village after all." Meiyuan let out another dramatic breath as he clasped his cheeks with the palms of his hand.

I did not respond.

The middle-aged acupuncturist stopped his melodramatics. "What're you doing?"

Dragging the oak staff across the ground, the dirt scattered away to show a glowing mark across the village. The purple lines trailed into a circle surrounding complex patterns, stretching transversely like the drips of a new stain.  
I stopped digging under the soil. I already knew what the symbol meant anyway. After all, I had seen it before…

The Reverse Seal of Tianfeng. The mark of Dehuai.

But he was supposed to have lost his powers fifteen years ago.

Fifteen years ago… that was a long time, though. I couldn't keep track of the years anymore. But surely it couldn't be that he was now…

I shook my head solemnly. It was probably best not to fret over any possible disasters just yet. For now, Meiyuan and I had to finish the job we started when we walked into this village in the first place.

And the first problem is…

"No doubt about it. We're stuck here," I said.

Meiyuan clicked his tongue. "This won't be good for business…" he muttered, until his eyes shot up and gleamed, "but maybe we'll meet some cute guys walking around!"

I smirked and gazed off into the misty village. Distant moans echoed out the run-down shacks. The malice of the villagers thickened the fog, and I could almost smell the bitter vengeance in the air.

I tucked a hand in the pocket of my silk robe.

"Go ahead," I replied, "if you want to be killed and eaten by these cannibals."

Meiyuan did not open his mouth. I hid a smile.

But before I could continue investigating the symbol any further, I caught sight of two shadows walking towards us in the mist. Meiyuan noticed as well, and took a step closer, squinting to decipher the figures as demons or regular humans. I raised my staff up and gripped the polished wood firmly.

I soon realized the figures we thought posed a threat turned out to be only a young lady and man. The lady was dressed in a modest blue and white dress, her light hair braided into a bun, while her partner's attire was more brash and sloppy.

They were a strange-looking couple, but then again, I supposed we were also.

The brown-haired youth took immediate notice of me. "Huh? Who're you, old man?" he blurted.

But, if I looked closer, past the dirt and the rags, I noticed the familiar features of this strange man. His strong jawline. The small light of determination in his eyes. The great but disastrous power lurking beneath…

It was déjà vu.

"Well, well," I smiled. "Still people here, eh?"

He did not pay much attention to me as I did with him. "Stand aside," he ordered briskly, as he walked up to the gates and tried to push it. It moved only slightly, ready to open but never letting go. The youth furrowed his eyebrows and heaved a strong kick instead, and still the results were the same.

"Huh, it won't open!!" he slowly came to conclude, but still persisted on kicking some more, whether out of impatience or frustration.

I shook my head. What I assumed of this boy was a long run, but it definitely wasn't impossible. He was more wiry and edgy, scrawny and taller, but his face had the very image.

I supposed it wouldn't hurt to figure one more case out.

"Unfortunately, you won't be able to leave. See this?" I prodded my staff against the dirt.

He looked at the strange symbol glowing on the ground. "What's that? Does it mean you can't leave or somethin'?"

"Yep, that's about the size of it," I said. I watched him go around investigating the gates, attempting to pick at the locks even though there were none. He was only able to squeeze his nose and arm through. Obviously he did not care much about the symbol.

Hmm. He had a more country way of speaking, definitely unusual in a place like China, but his voice was tough and clear. It was something you'd be forced to listen, even without meaning it, whether you wanted to or not.

"Excuse me," a feminine voice spoke up. I finally noticed the quiet Caucasian girl, who had been standing here all this time. "How did you men get in here?"

"Through here. We just pushed the gate open. It would appear that anyone is free to enter."

"We got in," Meiyuan added, cocking his head to the side and poking his cheek with his index finger, "but it looks like we can't go back out. Ah, I hate it, I hate it."

The boy, having finally stopped looking around for nonexistent locks of the gate, raised an eyebrow. He stared at us suspiciously for a long time, and then said slowly, "I see…"

Then he walked back to the girl, this time standing closer to her side. "… And you are?"

I chuckled. Acting tough and apathetic was not enough of a cover for him. Maybe the girl knew as well. But, if he was truly the boy I thought he was, then I had might as well fully introduce myself.

"Hahaha. You want to know who I am? I am the true ruler of the nine heavens. The absolute sage Master Zhuzhen. Among exorcists and spirit healers, I am quite well known. There are many adepts in the world, but only I will do that kind of work by the hour or day. I was hired by the elders in the neighboring village to come and investigate this place tonight."

It was only the girl who responded. "An adept for hire by the day? That's quite unique."

Her partner half-nodded along and seemed to had drift off after the first few sentences.

"This guy's weird all right. But he's invaluable to me, for all the great jobs he brings in," Meiyuan said, giving me a hard slap on the back. We had traveled long enough for him to know that I'd only be offended if he had smacked lightly. People seemed to treat anyone over sixty as frail and only a wise old man.

Meiyuan let go of his hand and then moved closer to the boy. "But wait, handsome, don't you want to know who I am?" he leered.

The youth immediately jumped back at his hit-on. I'd say that damn Meiyuan, but at least the boy was able to pay attention to the conversation again. So I only scolded him.

"Hey, hey, hey, lay off. That's how you scare customers away." I pulled my partner's shoulder away and looked at the boy, who had scooted even closer to the girl. This time, it was more for protecting himself rather than her. So much for being tough.

"This fellow here is a top-notch acupuncturist. Even brand new weapons feel like they've been yours for ten years once he's worked on them," I explained, and then glowered back at him. "The only problem is, you have to learn to put up with certain predilections he has."

The said acupuncturist bobbed his head eagerly, not taking offense to the last sentence. "That's right," he agreed instead. "I can't fight, but you'll love the way I assist."

Both the boy and the girl gawked at us.

I decided next time to work more on proper introductions.

The youth spun around. "Let's hit it, Alice. We can find our own way out." She nodded her head and the two of them began walking off.

I started after them before Meiyuan could try anything. "Now hold on a second, kid. You too, honey."

The couple stopped and listened, to my relief. The boy poked a thumb to himself. "I'm Yuri," he said, and then pointed at the girl beside him, "and this is Alice. What is it now, pops?"

Yuri, is it? He didn't care enough to bother remembering my name, but I kept his in mind, for now. After all, it was Yuri. A Japanese name. But it could also be…

"I admire your spirit, kid," I returned the favor of forgetful names. "But no matter how much you walk, you'll never get out of this village the way you're going."

Yuri's face darkened into a glare. "What's that supposed to mean?!"

He was ready to probably try to pummel me down at the remark, had it not for the girl, Alice, to step in between us.

"That's because of this mysterious mark here, isn't it, Zhuzhen?"

She tried to analyze the scrawls and symbols, but quickly gave in from having no knowledge of Chinese sorcery. But she was on the right track. Alice was definitely a smart one, and I decided it would be simpler to talk to her instead, rather than her partner. He had calmed down to listen to her and then scratched his head at all the lines that were gibberish to him on the ground.

"Exactly. The seal's power separates the village from the outside world. The seal itself is just like the lid on a pot. But this one has a lock that needs to be opened."

Alice focused her eyes on the seal and thought carefully. "How can we open that lock?" she questioned. "What do we need to break the seal?"

"That's right. You get the idea," I said. "Now listen carefully… both of you."

Yuri finally turned his head up and kept eye contact with me. Boy, was this kid a bother to get a hold of. I wondered how Alice was able to keep his attention every time she spoke.

"Someone in this village might be the key to this seal. You must find and defeat that person."

I stared at the two, deliberating cautiously, but perhaps I had not contemplated enough because I soon said, "Well, as they say, the journey IS the destination, so I'm coming along to see how I can help out." And then I joined them.

Alice seemed relieved by that idea and Yuri groaned. "What a pain," he muttered loudly.

I couldn't remember the last time I laughed so hard. A small pain filled my stomach, but it was well worth it. An insolent kid like him insulting an absolute sage? It was the joke of the century!

I wiped a tear from my eye as Yuri shrugged and mumbled something to Alice about going senile. I didn't mind. He'd see my power soon, anyway, depending on how dangerous this village was.

And I looked forward to seeing his as well.

It wasn't every day a person could witness the power of a Fusionist, after all. Things were going to be very interesting indeed…

"I'm no good at fighting. I'll stay here and dodge monsters until you get back," Meiyuan said. "If you want to get the most out of a new weapon, come and see me anytime. I'll show you it's true power."

"No thanks," Yuri declined right after his last sentence, and motioned Alice to quickly walk away with him. She turned her head back to check if I was coming along. I followed and walked further into the village with the two.

We discussed more about the ancient seals in this land, but the talking was mostly exchanged between Alice and me. The other one acted ignorant of subjects too complex for his thinking, and he walked a few feet ahead of us, hands folded behind his head.

"I see," Alice said, after listening to my explanation of the Wind of Heaven seal placed upon this village. "I was an exorcist too, with my father, but I'm not familiar with Chinese spells. I'm not sure if I can even pronounce them correctly…"

We glanced up at Yuri after he snorted. The guy had been eavesdropping on our conversation after all.

"Heheh. Yeah, you're always a little off with 'Yuri', too. There's a slight English accent at the end every time."

Alice's cheeks reddened with embarrassment. She hastily apologized, but the boy laughed it off and assured her it was fine, it sounded cute like that anyway.

Watching him laugh and smile at the girl made finally understand why she was the only one he paid attention to. I tittered quietly in the background. He was probably too young to be aware of it himself.

"I've traveled in England for too long," Alice said, looking down. "I can't even properly say a simple Japanese name."

Yuri started protesting and said he liked his name that way, until I spoke up.

"It's not just a Japanese name," I informed. "Anne named him Yuri because it's also Russian. It makes more sense, after all, since Yuri is only a Japanese name for a girl…"

I stifled a chuckle underneath the sleeve of my robe. I remembered his father had talked about it on that rainy day, and my imagining of his stunned face when he found out the name of his child was still the same as fifteen years ago.

I expected Alice to giggle and Yuri to act huffy and puffy, but their reaction was different. Instead, they had stopped their tracks, staring long and oddly at me.

Then I realized my mistake.

Now I've done it.

The boy's eyes lowered down and hard at me.

"Hey, pops…" he said. "Mind telling me how you know I'm half Japanese half Russian? Or better yet, how you know my mom's name?"

Ah. I've really dug myself a hole here...

What to do, what to do. Even I couldn't figure a way out myself. But no matter what, I could not tell him. It was impossible. Especially now – we had just met, we still needed the key to get out of this village, and he wouldn't be able to handle the truth.

I couldn't take their stare-down any longer and opened my mouth, about to sputter any excuse I could think off the top of my head, until a flash of light shined behind me. The three of us turned at the wind unfurling beneath an old woman's feet, clearing the air. She covered her nose, glaring horridly at us. "Wh-what is that awful smell?!"

"Mayor lady!" Yuri shouted, but before he could catch her, she had already jumped back and disappeared.

Later on when we ran near her presence again, she reappeared, screaming "go away!", and disappeared the second time.

With the old woman's strange behavior, Alice suggested we visit Granny Mayor's house. As we stepped through the crusty soil of the village Yuri kept an apprehensive watch on me the whole way, an unusual gaze for someone who hardly batted an eye at me a while ago.

Still, I was fortunate enough to have our group distracted by the woman and not on the subject that I knew about Yuri's past – no, not yet. We had bigger matters to focus on, and when we entered through her doorstep, Granny Mayor seemed to had forgotten about the smell and sneered at our company.

"Ha ha ha!" she cackled. "So, you're here again! You'll never leave. That is the Yamaraja's decision."

Raising an eyebrow, I stepped forward towards her. "What you mean, granny, is it's the decision of whoever's controlling Yamaraja behind the scenes."

"Wh-Who are you?" she asked sharply, widening her eyes once she took notice of me.

My head nodded down as I chuckled. It was about time someone in this village recognize my aptitudes instead of a certain apathetic ruffian.

"Heh heh heh… I'm the adept hired to exorcise this village. So, are you ready to say uncle?"

Granny Mayor slowly began to laugh. "Ha ha ha! You couldn't even catch me," she whispered, and though confident, it was almost as if it were to assure herself, "Why would I be afraid of you?! Poof!"

And in a small hurricane of wind and dust, she vanished to thin air. None of us were surprised anymore. Even Yuri didn't act as angry as before. Instead, he looked over to me and said, rather lamely, "Hey, we missed her again."

I shook my head no. "No, I can still feel her presence. She's still hiding somewhere in this house." I scanned the dimly lit walls for her shadow-less figure. "I guess it's time to apply the secret formula for smoking out cat people."

"Do you have any idea what we should do?" Alice asked.

I nodded a self-assured smile. "That I do. I suppose you know how cats take to catnip?" Pulling the plant from my robe pockets, my fingers uncurled to reveal egg-shaped leaves with a peculiar reddish hue. "I made it by mixing catnip with special dye! Well, this here is something called 'Anti-Cat Powder'."

Yuri jumped back with a roar, pinching his nose and glaring at the hairy herb.

"Man, these leaves really stink!! You just carry these around?! So that's what that funny smell was…"

He eyed me up and down strangely and I finally figured out that the boy really had completely forgotten about the question of his past and his mother, and had been only eyeing me suspiciously because of the odor. Honestly, what did he really think the reason I had the smell was for, anyway?

But soon Yuri's eyebrows jumped and he pounded a fist into his palm at his realization. "Now I get it! That's why Granny hid herself!!"

"Right, she probably couldn't stand the thought of running into me and having to smell this odor again. It's actually an herbal remedy for stomach aches, but it's smoke has a powerful effect on cat people. Simply carrying it is effective, but burn it and the power multiplies."

I rubbed my chin thoughtfully, my eyes brightening at an idea. "Let's smoke her out."

Once we searched through the village for a metal vessel and torch and gathered the two, I burned the incense in the house. Fragrant smoke rose from the blue flame, and this time, Yuri had to run back several steps. He clasped both hands over the center of his face.

"Whoa! Now this stinks!" the boy muffled out. Even Alice turned away and placed her fingers over her nose.

In a matter of seconds the cat woman reappeared, coughing and hacking from the smoke. "Hack! Hack! Wh-What is this?! Hack!" she croaked.

Yuri freed one hand away from his face and pinched his nose with the other to give more room for his mouth to shout, "I've got you now, old hag!" Yes, nevermind the fact that I was the one who actually pulled her out. "You ready to be skinned, cat?"

Though her weakened state made it much easier to defeat her, it was a shame I still could not witness Yuri's power. With simple punches and kicks from the man, and a few fire spells here and there from me, the battle quickly ended without needing a single healing from Alice. No extraordinary fusions from the hotheaded kid, and not even a special cure from the young lady? A waste of time and effort indeed, but not just for us…

Granny Mayor as well.

She fell to the ground on her knees, near to death, but moaned her last, bitter words.

"Ug… I've been defeated by a human…" she croaked. "You'll never understand the pain of giving birth, only to have them devoured… My vengeance was in vain…"

I shook my head sadly at the pitiful sight in front of us. "I feel for you," I said honestly, "but I suggest you let it go and give yourself some peace. I'll ask my employers to pray for the souls here."

Snapping her head up, Granny Mayor glared with pungent hatred in her weak eyes. "I won't accept pity from you!" she shrieked, and tossed her head up high. "Yamaraja! I leave everything in your hands…!"

Silence fell upon us by her last word as the woman fell forward and died.

Quietly, Alice was the first to speak up. "So the monsters in this village actually came from the souls of domestic animals, huh?" she murmured, as if she had suspected this already traveling through Zhaoyang.

"Now, now, Alice. We're not done yet." I paced myself back at the door and stared onwards at the nearby shrine in the horizon. "Next comes that so-called 'shrine' over there!"

Yuri's eyes shined with excitement and his grin was the widest I had ever seen tonight.

"Heh, now for Yamaraja!"

He was a reckless boy searching for danger, indeed, but after a small success one cannot be too confident for the next challenge afterwards.

* * *

**Author's Note:** This is where I stopped writing. I won't pick up this story anymore, so I hope you enjoyed reading while it lasted!


End file.
